Moahaugane burial mounds

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Field with several distinctive burial mounds from 200-400 AD

MOAHAUGANE BURIAL MOUNDS

In pagan times this area was a burial site considered sacred ground by the residents of the chief’s homestead at Hove. Many of the original burial mounds have now vanished, especially those from the Viking age (AD 800–1000). The burial mounds along the edge of the terrace are called Moahaugane, and eight of them are still visible. These are believed to have been constructed between AD 300 and AD 500 but remained in use as graves until Christian burial practices became customary around AD 1000.

The Moahaugane burial mounds show that Hove was the principal homestead in the Vik district for many centuries. Con­siderable resources were devoted to building tombs for the homestead’s most prominent men and women. It could take up to 600 man-days to construct just one of the burial mounds you see here. Two smaller burial mounds farther south, known as Småhaugane, are also part of the conservation area. Storehaugen (2) is located on public land, the other mou­nds on private land.